SPM Additional Mathemathics

1. Studying tips
- When your teacher is teaching in class, pay attention to what your teacher says. Make sure
you understand everything taught by your teacher. If you do not understand anything, ask
your teacher or friends.

- You need a reference book because the textbook alone is not enough. I recommend you to
use the Success Additional Mathematics SPM reference book by Oxford Fajar.

- When studying a chapter for the first time, read through the notes in the reference book.
Make sure that you understand the concept for that chapter and relate them to what your
teacher had taught in school.

- You need to know how to apply what you have learnt to solve questions. Go through all the
example questions in the revision book. Make sure that you understand how every question
is solved.

- Then, you have to do a lot of exercises. Buy exercise books from the bookshop. You can
start by doing topical questions topic by topic. When you have understood all topics, proceed
with doing SPM model test papers, past year SPM trial questions and past year actual SPM
questions. They should be available from bookshops. After doing the exercises, refer to the
suggested answer or mark scheme and do self marking.

- You should sometimes refer to the mark scheme of past year SPM trial papers to find out
how every question is marked and which steps need to be shown for every question. Usually,
the same types of questions will have similar mark scheme, so this can help you when
answering exam questions.

- When doing revision before exam, you should go through the example questions for all
chapters in the reference book. If you have forgotten the concept for any chapter, go through
the notes in reference book for that chapter again. You should also do some SPM model test
papers or past year papers.

- The Additional Mathematics topics may require knowledge and understanding of the
Mathematics topics. Make sure that you understand all the topics in SPM Mathematics.

2. Paper 1
- It is not compulsory to show the workings. If your final answer is correct, full marks will be
given and the workings will not be marked. However, you are strongly advised to show all
workings. If your final answer is wrong but some of your working is correct, the workings will
be marked and you may still be given some marks.

3. Paper 2

- There are Section A, Section B and Section C. Section A consists of 6 questions where you
must answer all questions, Section B consists of 5 questions where you can choose any 4,
while Section C consists of 4 questions where you can choose any 2. You can answer extra
questions in Section B and Section C if you have time. The examiner will mark all questions
and choose the questions where you score the highest marks.

- You must show all workings for every question. You should not skip any important steps.
You do not need to write down the formula used to solve the question. The number of marks
allocated for a question usually shows the amount of working needed. 1 mark will be given
for each important step and the final answer. If you do not show a particular important step,
marks will not be given for that step. Marks can still be given for all other steps and the final
answer if they are correct. Correct answer without working usually scores only 1 mark. If
your final answer is wrong but some of your working is correct, you may still be given some
marks. However, you do not need to show any working for 1 mark questions.

4. Both Paper 1 & Paper 2

- When answering, read the question and information given carefully. For questions involving
diagrams, mark any important details on the diagram. For some questions without diagram,
sometimes it may be helpful to draw a diagram so that you can illustrate the information
given in the question. Apply what you have learnt in mathematics in order to solve the
questions and get the answer. Use the correct concept or formula for every question. Certain
formula are provided in the first few pages of the question paper, refer to them if necessary.

- You are allowed to write extra solutions or answers. Marks will only be given for the correct
answers/solutions, and marks will not be deducted for wrong answers/solutions. When
copying figures from the question or from your answer for the previous part of the question,
be careful not to copy wrongly.

- If the question does not state that you must or you cannot use a particular method, then
you can use any suitable method to solve the question. You can also use methods that are
learnt only in Form 6 / A-level or higher level, if you know them. If the question states that
you must use a particular method, then you can only that method to solve the question. If the
question states that cannot use a particular method, then you cannot that method to solve
the question.

- If the final answer is a number with infinite decimal places, you should round up to at least
4 significant figures. You can also write your final answer as a fraction if possible. However,
if the question states that you must express your answer as fraction or decimal, then you
must follow the instruction. If a number with infinite decimal places is involved in between the
workings, you should take at least 4 decimal places (4 significant figures is not sufficient) to
ensure accuracy of the final answer. Otherwise, marks can be deducted if the final answer is
less accurate.

- For questions involving Pi, the question may ask you to use Pi = 3.142. In that case, you
cannot use Pi = 22/7 or the value of Pi from the calculator. You must also follow other
instructions given in the question. After you have answered all questions, you should
recheck your answers for mistakes. Leave at least 15 minutes to recheck your answers if
possible. When rechecking, use a different method to solve the question or directly use the
calculator if possible.